Wednesday, Sept 18, 2019
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Cops subjected to abuse An 18-year-old woman who took part in a group attack on two Ashburton police officers was sentenced to six months’ community detention on Monday. Stacey Stannard was also sentenced to 100 hours’ community work and six months’ supervision and ordered to pay $1000 to the officers. She had admitted charges of aggravated assault and intimidation on one officer, and assault on another. Judge Joanna Maze said a sole officer responding to a report
of a car crash had been met by a drunken pack of people and subjected to considerable harassment and abuse. He had been threatened and physically assaulted. He had called for back-up and the second officer was also assaulted. Stannard admitted kicking him in the groin. She was one of three people to face charges from the incident. “Make no mistake,” Judge Maze told her yesterday. “This is a very serious set of circumstances and
the first attending officer would have had on his mind the long list of officers who have been singled out because they have been on their own.” She said while a pre-sentence report for the first offender had recommended supervision, it was inadequate given the level of violence and threats involved. Denunciation and deterrence were vital. The judge noted Stannard was considered a good worker and was caring for an older relative.
The offending was out of character. “What is worrying is the extent to which you literally threw in your lot with the other two and behaved in a way which was so grossly out of character, it leaves me questioning what could have happened had they gone further. “You must, however, be sentenced on the basis of what you did and that was serious enough.” Stannard and one of the others had kicked and punched the first police officer. The second officer arrived and
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she resisted arrest, kicking him in the groin. “Even after that you continued a tirade of verbal abuse and threats of physical harm.” The judge said she would not read the abuse out in open court. The officers did not want to take part in restorative justice. Community detention allows Stannard to keep her job, though she must abide by a night-time curfew and attend drug and alcohol counselling. Stannard’s co-offenders are to be sentenced next month.
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